E! Analysis - October 2011

SCHEDULING STRATEGIES:

Even with the cluttered programming on cable on Sunday nights, E! is not afraid to air one of their best originals like KEEPING UP WITH THE KARDASHIANS or HOLLY'S WORLD. Most of their schedule varies night by night, week to week. It is rather looked upon as if you are watching the brand, and not appointment viewing.

This cable network has developed a successful, highly profitable take on the old broadcast network formula -- find and create accessible stars and watch the viewers pour in, but for fractions of the cost of a single episode of a network drama.

This October, E! was all about the Kardashians. KEEPING UP WITH THE KARDASHIANS – which featured the mega-publicized (and ultimately short-lived) wedding of Kim Kardashian and Kris Humphries – dominated the network’s schedule.

The first half of the two-part wedding special garnered the show’s best ratings for the year; closing out the season strongly. Subsequent reruns were also impressive, managing to beat out all the premiere telecasts of KENDRA save one. The show was strongest among women aged 18-49 but also fared well among women aged 25-54.

The tandem of THE SOUP and FASHION POLICE also performed well, surpassing all other programming aside from KARDASHIANS. The unlikely duo of Joel McHale and Joan Rivers helped make Fridays a comparatively strong night for the network.

Sundays – which generally featured KENDRA, DIRTY SOAP, and various movies – was the biggest primetime night by a wide margin. And while Friday’s gaudy numbers can mostly be attributed to the KARDASHIAN special, KENDRA and DIRTY SOAP are also responsible. All of KENDRA’s new October episodes found a place among the top 20 telecasts of the month. The reality show continues to do well among women aged 18-49. And although newcomer DIRTY SOPA was not as popular, the reality show has maintained an audience. The trusty MOVIES THAT WE LOVE (which included the likes of THE BREAKUP and I KNOW PRONOUNCE YOU CHUCK AND LARRY) performed par for the course, landing decent ratings.

Following E’s top four shows, the network’s ratings begin to fall off. UP ALL NIGHT did particularly poorly, coming in dead last in the ratings. While the show has found some success on sister channel NBC, it flopped in syndication. NIGHT fared badly with men aged 18-49 and even worse among women.

Reruns of SEX AND THE CITY managed to attract a larger female audience but was similarly unimpressive. THE E! TRUE HOLLYWOOD STORY, which also aired on Wednesday nights, edged out CITY by a hair.